


(And It's) Just My Soul Responding

by deathishauntedbyhumans



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Compass, Drinking, Fade to black sex, Fluff and Smut, Friends With Benefits, Giggling, I can't believe I just wrote this, Inspired by Haunted Holiday, Interrupted Makeout Session, Laughter, M/M, Making Out, Ooookay let's see here, POV Julian, POV Third Person, UST, Unclear Relationships, Wine, With just a tiny bit of implied angst because this is asrian lbr, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000, compliments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 12:48:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15630987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathishauntedbyhumans/pseuds/deathishauntedbyhumans
Summary: After they finally make it to the summer palace, Asra and Julian spend some time together.





	(And It's) Just My Soul Responding

**Author's Note:**

> Title is taken from the song by the same title by Amber Run. Thanks, Asrian playlist.
> 
> EDIT: Now slightly cleaner and slightly more edited!!!

They’re lying together against a mound of pillows that Asra dragged out of his room hours ago, a half-empty bottle of wine perched between them. It is the only thing between them, in fact; any space had vanished only minutes ago when Asra had murmured something about being cold and Julian had all but launched himself across the pillows to remedy that fact.

“Ilya, you’re staring again.”

Julian hums, fingers creeping languidly along Asra’s wrist to trace one of the shorter lines of his palm. Nadia had retired about a half hour ago, laughing her soft, bell-like laugh at the boys’ reluctance to join her in sleep.

“Ilya.”

For once, Asra’s voice contains no hint of annoyance or any other barely-hidden negativity when he says Julian’s name. Instead, there is a note of amusement, a fondness that Julian wishes desperately to hear more often.

“ _Il-ya.”_

The uncharacteristic whine, rather like a child looking for attention, is what finally prompts Julian to respond. He grins, watching Asra’s features soften automatically in response, and slots his fingers in against Asra’s own, twining them together gently.

“You’re beautiful,” he says, pleasure trickling through his chest and down his spine when Asra’s cheeks go pink at the sudden compliment. “How d’you expect me to keep from staring?” Especially when Asra puts himself on display the way he so often does. Even now, curled up halfway against the pillows and halfway against Julian, Asra’s chest is peeking out through the thin, silky fabric of the tunic he’d put on upon their arrival at the summer palace. His skin is tan; the bright colours of the tunic only serve to further highlight his features.

“Flatterer,” Asra murmurs, wiggling against Julian a little. He ducks his head, tucking it in against the side of Julian’s neck. Julian shivers when Asra’s breath hits his skin.

“I—“ Julian’s own breath hitches slightly, and he feels rather than sees Asra’s smile. “I can’t help myself,” he says, a quiet honesty slipping into his tone despite his desire to keep things light. “You are beyond words, Asra.”

“And yet, you are full of them,” Asra adds cheekily, pulling back again to look at Julian. His cheeks are still flushed with wine, but it is obvious that his embarrassment has passed.

They stay that way for what feels like an eternity, just gazing at one another. Julian can feel his own heartbeat, loud and fast, and he finds himself wondering if Asra can feel it, too. He tries for a moment to listen for Asra’s, but he can’t hear anything over the pounding beat of his own blood rushing in his ears. Asra’s expression is more open than Julian has seen it in many moons, jaw relaxed and eyes soft. He’s beautiful like this. Then again, Julian always thinks Asra is beautiful. Why would this be any kind of exception?

Asra is the one to lean back, eventually. Julian idly wishes that he could feel surprised. But Asra doesn’t go far. He reaches past the bottle of wine, past Julian, to stick his hand into his bag beside their little pillow nest. When he withdraws it, he has the compass clutched in his fingers, covering the top as he offers it to Julian. Julian gives Asra a curious look, but slowly, gingerly, he accepts the compass into his own hands.

They both look down into the face of it as the needle shakes, and Julian holds his breath as it rights itself and points to Asra, the same way it had done when Julian had attempted to use it to navigate. Asra sucks in a breath. Julian lets his own go.

“I can’t give you what you want,” Asra whispers. Julian chances a glance at him, but his gaze is still firmly on the compass. “But… right now, perhaps…” Asra looks up at him, then, and catches him staring. Julian swallows hard and holds his gaze. “Perhaps this is something we both need.” Asra lifts a hand slowly, and doesn’t look away from Julian as he slides a hand into his auburn hair. Julian bites his lip.

He doesn’t miss the way Asra’s gaze drops when he does it.

And then, Asra leans forward and Julian leans forward, guided by the hand in his hair and the primal desire for Asra’s attention that has lived inside of his chest since the moment they met.

Asra kisses him.

Asra kisses him, and Julian melts, just like he melts every single time Asra deems him worthy enough to receive such open affection. The kiss is not chaste; Asra surges forward as soon as their lips are pressed together and _takes_.

And Julian _gives_.

He feels himself fall back fully against the pillows beneath them as Asra pushes him back, feels Asra’s hand between his head and the pillows, keeping him from falling too fast. Julian whines as Asra’s delicate fingers twist against the bright strands, and Asra takes the opportunity to delve deeper, licking into the crevices of Julian’s mouth as he _takes_ and _takes_ and _takes._ Asra only pulls away for a moment; Julian gasps for breath and lets Asra pull the compass from his limp fingers before accepting another bruising kiss.

It takes him until Asra has moved from his lips to his neck for Julian to remember that he has a body, that he has limbs of his own that he can do things with, but when the realisation hits him, it’s with a hum as he tilts his head back, pressing the top of his head into the pillows so that Asra can further ravish him. Julian brings his hands up from where they’ve been resting to clutch at Asra’s back, the silken tunic sliding through his fingers like water until he manages to get his hands underneath it. He feels Asra smile again before teeth nip playfully at his neck.

“Asra,” Julian pants, and the smile widens into a grin. His fingers scrabble against Asra’s skin, digging in hard as Asra attacks his neck, kissing and biting and sucking along tender skin until Julian forgets how to breathe. When Asra latches onto the skin just above his collarbone and _sucks_ , Julian cries out, arching his back and pressing the length of his body against Asra.

A strange, cool, wet feeling erupts at his side, and suddenly Asra’s lips are gone from his neck. Julian forces his eyes open to find Asra desperately righting the bottle of wine that had been forgotten in their sudden desperation.

When their eyes meet, Julian can’t help it: he begins to laugh. It starts soft, as a mere chuckle, but it grows in volume and enthusiasm when Asra’s laughter joins his own.

“Nadi— Nadi’s going to kill us,” Asra gets out between giggles, helping Julian to sit up when he begins to attempt it on his own. Julian nods, but makes no move to help Asra clean up the mess. Instead, he leans his forehead down against Asra’s now-bare shoulder, the tunic half-off of his body from their scrambling. Asra’s giggling intensifies. “Ilya! You’re no help!”

“You’re doing great,” Julian laughs out, nuzzling into Asra’s shaking shoulders before sitting up straight again. “I’m…” He looks down at himself, wincing. A red stain has seeped into the white shirt he’d been wearing, and the top of his pants —while black— are definitely soaked. “...covered in wine.”

“What the devil is going on here?” The addition of a third voice, loudly echoing through the room, stops the giggling short. Asra and Julian exhange a look before slowly looking over to find Nadia, draped in a furred nightgown, staring them down expectantly.

“We, uh… Well, Countess, you see…” Julian tries to explain. He really does. But he doesn’t even manage to get through an entire sentence before Asra begins to giggle again at his side, and he can’t help himself: he breaks and joins in again.

Nadia continues to stare at them for a moment before a mischievous smile finds its way onto her features. Judging from the way her gaze has trailed over the both of them, she has figured out what’s going on; Julian is well-aware that she’s much sharper than she pretends to be back in Vesuvia.

“Ah. I see. Well, I’ll leave the two of you to it, then,” she says, and Asra tries to straighten up at Julian’s side, coughing a few times to attempt to keep his laughter in check.

“We’re sorry for waking you, Nadi,” he says, sounding truly apologetic, and Nadia shrugs delicately.

“It’s quite alright. Just… try to keep yourselves on the quiet side, mm?” With that, she raises a hand in an obvious bid of adieu and turns with a quiet ruffling of her gown, leaving the room. It only takes a moment after she’s gone for Asra to begin laughing again.

“Now who’s no help?” Julian asks incredulously, but he’s laughing too. He can’t help it; Asra’s amusement it infectious. This time, it’s Asra who leans against him to steady himself, the giggles slowly trailing off once more.

“Well. That was… something that just happened,” Asra finally states, and Julian coughs loudly to keep himself from devolving into laughter for the millionth time in the past few minutes. Asra pulls back and looks Julian up and down.

His eyes sparkling, Asra pushes himself upright, standing and using Julian’s shoulder to balance himself amongst the pillow nest before carefully stepping out of it. He offers a hand to Julian, who accepts it without hesitation.

“What do you say we get you out of those wet clothes?” Asra offers, and grins widely at Julian’s slack-jawed expression before he tugs the hand Julian is still holding. Julian only stumbles once before he manages to find his footing; they make their way down the hallway in step, fingers laced together tightly and gazes occasionally meeting and darting away again before they make it to the room Nadia had chosen for Asra upon their arrival. 

**Author's Note:**

> Ooooh man I still can't believe I wrote this? It was written in mmmm... maybe a half hour? Mmmmmmm....
> 
> Kudos/comments are love! Come scream at me on tumblr @deathishauntedbyhumans


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